diff --git a/libvips/foreign/foreign.c b/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
index ba9fc329..a20a2ebb 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
@@ -1131,8 +1131,7 @@ vips_foreign_load_build( VipsObject *object )
 	/* Tell downstream if we are reading sequentially.
 	 */
 	if( sequential ) 
-		vips_image_set_area( load->out, 
-			VIPS_META_SEQUENTIAL, NULL, NULL ); 
+		vips_image_set_int( load->out, VIPS_META_SEQUENTIAL, 1 );
 
 	return( 0 );
 }